This invention relates to means for disposing of sewage waste materials, and particularly to such a means which renders the disposal of such materials compatible with environmental protection laws and other laws which prohibit underground raw sewage disposal.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a means including a sewage digesting device which receives raw sewage and digests it, and the digested effluent is conveyed under low pressure to a plurality of discharge pipes arranged in a disposal field or the like, whereby the digested effluent can be disposed of in the field or used to irrigate crops or lawns or the like as desired. The invention can be used for both small and large applications, such as, for example, a single mobile home or a large city and the like.
Heretofore, underground disposal fields have been a severe problem, in that they require pipe 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter, with 3/4 inch holes at certain points therealong, and the flow of effluent through these pipes is effected by the influence of gravity only. Since the topography is seldom ideal, these prior art arrangements have resulted in a non-uniform distribution of the sewage or effluent, often occasioned by surfacing of unprocessed effluents, thus causing a health hazard in addition to the undesirability of having wet, soggy areas in the disposal field. Because of these problems, prior art disposal fields are very short lived and are expensive to establish and maintain, due to the large diameter of pipe required to handle undigested material under gravity flow conditions.
With the present invention, small diameter, inexpensive plastic pipe or tubing under low pressure is utilized to obtain a highly uniform flow and emission pattern of digested effluent in a much smaller area, thus resulting in about an 80% reduction in cost of the disposal field and related equipment. Moreover, the apparatus of the invention is operated under positive pressure, and includes a plurality of emitters having different size orifices therethrough if the terrain is hilly, for example, whereby emitters with larger orifices are placed at higher elevations to thus obtain a substantially uniform flow throughout the disposal field regardless of the topography of the disposal field.
Still further, since the sewage is thoroughly and completely digested and liquified by the digester used with the apparatus of the invention, the effluent can be used for irrigation of lawns, shrubs, trees, parks or agricultural crops and the like, and the effluent, therefore, is a valuable asset rather than an expensive liability. Additionally, the emitters have sharpened points whereby they may be inserted directly into the discharge conduits by the use of a simple and inexpensive tool, whereby costly engineering and planning is eliminated and field installation of the discharge pipes and emitters can easily and quickly be accomplished.